A rather interesting homebrewed Google App will be receiving a refresh shortly. Yes, we heard the glorious news about the Photos app being overhauled, Inbox being available to all, and the exciting new addition of Android Pay. But, remarkably, Google has also promised a serious renovation for another existing mobile payment system. This seems rather surprising with the addition of Android Pay to the robust core ecosystem, but Google Wallet possess a few features that are keeping it afloat.
In a Google+ post yesterday, the tap n go payment team revealed some teaser information regarding the intended direction. Interestingly, Google Wallet opens things up gushing about the widespread success of sending and receiving money to friends and family. PayPal is one of the few companies that provide a similar secure system, but it seems to suffer from a few more limitations. This, in and of itself, is something you’ll want to mentally flag about the differentiation between Android Pay and Wallet (and why Wallet will continue to exist in the future). Adding onto the already successful portion of the app, Google will be integrating the ability for anyone in the US with a debit card to freely send and receive money within minutes. Much like how the app is constructed today, the Google Wallet app is not necessary for both parties to have installed, but now the receiving party doesn’t even need a bank account to accept funds. From here, money can be deposited into a specific account, or housed within the Google Wallet app itself.
At this time, it remains very clear by Google if this will continue to be a US based solution only. Opening this service up to international use is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities, but we will have to wait for future updates to see. Lastly, the app makeup will be receiving a visual overhaul for both Android and iOS. There are currently no details on when the touched up design will show up in the Google Play Store. However, the app in its current form is more than capable of handling most payment related tasks.